*EDIT SEE ORIGINAL POST....still not fixed* Really puzzling problem (possibly Hardware related) with FRESH W2K install

[MichaelD]

*EDIT*

Well, something is really, really, really wrong here. I wiped the HD, reformatted (NTFS) W2K goes thru the motions and installs itself. I installed Winzip, so I could unzip and install the via drivers. It reboots, no problem. Install 23.11 dets off Nvidia's page. Reboots, no problem. As long as I RESTART and not SHUT DOWN, it reboots fine.

As soon as I shut down and try to restart, I get that "Hive/System32" error. WTF?

I ran Maxblast!, the diagnostic on the HD. Ran the LONG test. it passed. I'm about to throw the whole damn thing out the window.

This is three nights in a row I've given up my free time trying to get my GFs PC working. What is going on with this?

Could it be the HD? Mobo? Maybe if I flash the bios to a newer version? Help, please.







___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I'm really upset and confused about this problem.

I installed W2K on my GFs PC (Abit KT7R/Athlon 850/256mb Crucial/Maxtor 40GB/GF2 GTS Pro). This was a fresh format in NTFS install. Blew away the existing partition first and started clean.

OS install went well, no probs.

Then it's driver time. After installing each driver, you have to reboot. OK, it reboots just fine.

I installed and rebooted about a dozen times at least for the various drivers/apps. Remember, it's been doing the auto shut-down-and-restart thing for at least an hour.

Well, all was well. Surfing, emailing, 3DMark, you name it.

I manually shut down (START-->shutdown) because I had to put the case back into her desk and reconnect the wires. When I rebooted, I got a:

Cannot find Hive file System32/.......... I tried the recover console by hitting "C" but after logging in as ADMIN, it does nothing. Just sits there at the C:/WINNT prompt. I didn't have a W2K ERD with me, unfortunately.

Now here's the funny thing. I got the same error message (the hive-thing) myself about a month ago. I learned here on AT, that it's caused by the registry getting too big and it can't load. That was understandable, as that W2K install was about 9 months old and I use my PC a lot.

But, what happened tonight was a FRESH install...almost nothing on the damn HD.

I am planning on trying the ERD tomorrow.

Why would this happen after a complete shutdown, but not on a Start/autoreboot? I mean, I still had to restart/login to W2K? It's almost as if W2K didn't save it's settings or something? Could this be a HD issue?

Please help as I"m lost and my GF has no PC.

 

[yazz]

here is what i posted earlier:

first, i say you run a Maxtor Diagnostic on that harddrive. second, try another video card. how long does it take to recieve this error? do you remember the last thing you did on the computer before this error occured? This error means that your registry HIVE, loader, kernel, HAL, and boot drivers exceeded 13MB. Did you install Norton AntiVirus or EZCD Creator on your system? Sometimes when a driver fails to load it will corrupt the registry in this manner. try flashing your BIOS to the latest version and using the latest VIA drivers. i have also seen MS Flight Simulator crash XP in the same way because of a failed install. here are some links to help you out. try another stick of RAM as well


http://is-it-true.org/nt/nt2000/atips/atips118.shtml

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q265509&id=KB;EN-US;q265509

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q151247

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q156640

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q303012

 

[MichaelD]

Wow Yazz, you rock. Thanks very, VERY much!

Interesting that you hit it right on the head. I DID install NortonSystemWorks 2001 and it rebooted fine. Then, I did the live updates (about 6 megs worth) and then rebooted. It DID reboot.

AFter that, I shut down manually in order to put the case back.

What happens is:

Hit start. Bios posts. Highpoint Bios posts (only one HD in this system..no raid) W2K starts up. Get splash screen. Just as it's making the transition to the desktop, I get a BSOD w/that message.

Thanks for your help!

 

[yazz]

ya, if you installed Norton into the system check and see if you can take it out. if not then go ahead and do another clean install and DO NOT install Norton SystemWorks onto any machine that is running WIN2K or WINXP. i see this problem at least once a week at my company. i tell people to not put Norton onto their system because it thinks it knows better than Windows in how to maintain itself. they want to fix the problem for free and i say sorry you are going to have to pay me to fix this mess. some crashes like this can be recovered but others have to be reinstalled into a new directory. i say the chances of fixing this problem (if you have the time to waste) in general is about 60 to 70% success and about 30 to 40% percent where the OS must be scrapped and installed into a new directory without a format.

NORTON LIVE UPDATES can be very dangerous to perform. Be very careful when doing this with WIN2K/XP. Norton does not even warn you in how much it has embedded itself into the OS. MAKE SURE one makes a RECOVERY/RESCUE DISK before performing an operation like this.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks, Yazz. Just a few more questions, and I'll leave you alone.

1. Can I just install NAV and be OK? Gotta have anti-virus on a PC!
2. I created a ERD on my machine, including the registry. Can I use it on her machine? Both AMD rigs.
3. How come I didn't run into this prob on my rig? Diff mobo have anything to do w/it?

I appreciate your time.

 

[yazz]

this stuff is too random to predict. i highly doubt that the motherboard had anything to do with it.
and NO! do not use your ERD disk on her machine. it will create more problems down the road even though, lets say, it fixed it by chance.
you may want to buy a newer version of NAV. Or, another really really good Anti-Virus program that has little problems and does not embed itself deep into the OS is called: Panda AntiVirus

but you may want to try to install NAV again on her machine but do not perform a liveupdate, just do a Virus definition update. you may want to configure that into the program before you let her have it--so it can be pretty much automated for her and no hassles for you or her.

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks very much for your help. I'll prolly just blow away the partition/reformat and reinstall. That would take about 90 minutes. Heh, 90 minutes is prolly how long it would take me to do that recovery console thing.

At least now I know what caused the problem. Stupid Norton...sheesh, you pay $50 for a "professional app" and this is what you get. Thanks again. Have a nice night. Off to bed for me. 0530 comes early.

 

[Yossarian]

Are you installing all the crap that comes with Systemworks? It's a good package for AV and Ghost especially but that Cleansweep and installation monitor stuff is a waste of 0's and 1's.

 

[MichaelD]

Hi Pipboy,

Yeah, I installed the whole shebang. I've installed the entire Systemworks on multiple systems and haven't run into this problem. Figures...only on my GF's computer...she gets pissed, I get nothing. LOL!

Here's what I plan on doing tonight.

1. Wipe and reload. I'm not messing w/recovery console, since I didn't make an ERD
2. Reload W2K and all drivers
3. Make an ERD
4. Load NAV and Ghost
5. Hope for the best

 

[MichaelD]

Bump

 

[MichaelD]

ttt

 

[MichaelD]

Cryin' out loud....if I pissed you off, I apologize....now help me.

 

[PlatinumGold]

ya. i hate norton. i've always had trouble w/ norton. if you are going to install norton, in any version of windows from 3.11 to present. you should always install it before installing any other program.

but if you asked my opinion i'd say don't install it.

 

[MisterDuck]

...there's just a few 1's and 0's out of place. All you have to do is find out which ones.


Gee, aren't I a big help?

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks Mr. Duck. Very helpful.

Bump@!

 

[MichaelD]

*Sigh* Please take a look at my original post at the top of this thread. I'm going to flash the bios tonight...I'm really out of ideas.

 

[miken]

Generally this is a hardware error.

Try different RAM.

I would say that your RAM is having problems loading the Hive file, since that's the largest file that W2k has to load at bootup.

In summary, try different RAM.

 

[MichaelD]

Hmm, okay. Thanks, Miken. Is that "Miken" as in MichaelN? Just curious.

Funny thing is that there are currently two 128mb sticks of Crucial PC133 in there. I wonder if you're right? Tonight, I'm going to take out one stick and the sound card and try it with just CPU/one stick of memory/videocard and see what happens.

I'll try that B4 I flash the bios. Thanks much.